Cast List for The King Stag is Up!

The director has made his decisions and the auditioners huddle around the cast list in apprehension. With a cast of 27 actors and puppeteers, The King Stag is going to be massive, at least for the Tower Players. I've been cast to puppeteer the King Stag! I'm very excited about this as I've never done any puppeteering before and I get to learn using an elegant and graceful stag puppet. The other casting decisions look excellent; I'm looking forward to working with everyone on this production. It will be full of fun, magic, and downright hilarity!

The King Stag Auditions

The next production of the Tower Players is The King Stag by Carlo Gozzi. I'm really excited about it! It's a fairytale story full of everything that should be in a fairytale: love, betrayal, heroes, villains, forests, castles, magic, and illusion! Our production is going to be a very big, very epic, and hopefully, very magical show. Auditions are this coming Wednesday and Thursday and I'm nervous and excited to see how things go. No matter what, this show is going to be a lot of fun!

A picture from Boston College's production of The King Stag

KCACTF Region III

So, my most recent activity in the acting world was my involvement at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival: Region III. It took place from January 4th to the 8th and it was a blast. I was nominated to compete for the Irene Ryan Scholarship because of my role as Posthumus Leonatus in Cymbeline. My scene partner, Paul Rezzo, and I didn't make it past the first round but it was fun none the less and I thought our scene was strong. Luckily, the Irene Ryan competition is not the only activity going on at ACTF. There's shows from other schools being put on, workshops in acting, design, and play writing being taught, design expositions on display, and various other events to tickle your theatrical fancy. And all of it is highly educational. Over the course of the Festival, I saw several shows including Unser Zuverlassiges Haus; The Last Days of Judas Iscariot; Art; Real Girls Can't Win; My Soldiers; Almost, Maine; and The Drowsy Chaperone. Some of these shows were good, some not so good but all were entertaining in one form or another. Of these shows, Real Girls Can't Win ended up way at the bottom of my list.

 

 It was full of technical difficulties, cliché plot devices, and bad story telling. I can forgive the technical problems in knowing that it is difficult to move a show into an unfamiliar space, however, the story proved weak and laughable. This would be alright if it were supposed to be a comedy but Real Girls Can't Win is trying to send a message about how women see themselves and how they don't need to take their clothes off in order to get attention. It's a prevalent theme and is worth addressing but this production goes about it in the wrong way and just ends up being pathetic. It tries to be shocking when it doesn't need to be. Its attempts to raise the stakes just come off as unrealistic and over-the-top. The acting was actually decent but it didn't do much to redeem the show either. Oh well, all I can say is better luck next time.

Now, it's always hard to pick a favorite as there were so many good shows over the week but I think I've narrowed it down. My most favorite ACTF show this year (well, at least the most fun) was The Drowsy Chaperone.

 

 Set in the outrageous era of the Roarin' 20s, this show follows the ridiculous wedding preparations for a well known and talented chorus girl. What makes this show really great is that it is narrated and presented by a nostalgic old-timer remembering the good-ol' days of Broadway. The show starts off with the narrator sharing his love of the old, simple, entertaining musicals giving The Drowsy Chaperone as an example. He puts on his old record of the show and we are catapulted into the story. The music was fantastic, the dancing was fun, and the meta-theatre was hilarious. An absolutely lovable show with lovable characters, I would see The Drowsy Chaperone again in a heartbeat.

Whew! This was a long post. And I told myself I was going to try and keep things concise! It's okay, though; ACTF kind of deserves a little more space. Besides, I hardly scratched the surface of what goes on there. What I will say is that I had a ton of fun, learned a lot, and loved every minute of it.

Eric's Got a Blog!

So I've been thinking about getting a blog for a while and now it's actually happening. Hopefully, this blog will keep those who are interested up to date as to what I'm doing in the acting world. Also, I'll probably post interesting things that I run across, opinions I have about shows, and experiences both funny and profound I've had on stage . . . you know, I'll blog. Anyway, I'm excited about it.